Fractured Fairy Tale

Ever since you went all elegiac on Mike Piazza, he hasn't hit a home run. And now he's got a fractured hand.

Try toughlove next time. Or ballet .

Mike Jacobs, when he plays, will be the 768th Met ever. That's exactly 100 Mets since the end of 2001, 100 brand new players — four rosters' worth — to take the field in less than four years. Does that seem stable to you?

I don't think either of us ever commented on Doug Mientkiewicz's current injury, probably because it's hard to recall where one bizarre stay on the DL ended and where the next one began. He hurt himself butting bodies with Rickie Weeks in a Pyrrhically successful breakup of a DP. Next shot we saw of him, he was all gimp in the dugout. Then it was Doug…out.

It's not a knock on the guy to say I sort of haven't noticed his extended absence what with all the drama that's swirled about of late. I'm at the point where I don't expect to see Doug Mientkiewicz play for the Mets. Every time he does, it's a little gift, I suppose.

I actually heard myself call Glavine “Glavo” when he finished the seventh. I need to cut that stuff out.

Poor Royals. I mean, really, 18 in a row? Would it screw us up terribly if they sent Super Joe our way? I doubt KC's troubles are all his fault and there's no way he deserves to live through all that. (Tony LaRussa kept a pair of his shoes, you may have heard.) What harm could he do here? I read the other day that he and Kaz would go out for sushi on every road trip last year. Maybe Matsui misses his buddy.

Tike Redman hates us. I'm sure of it. Seeing Gerald Williams soaking up what he believes to be Prentice's roster spot probably just inflames his ire even more.

Did you shudder every time Carlos Beltran was in motion Wednesday night? That he didn't is to the better. Gary Cohen pretty much nominated him for Comeback Player of the Year (intraseason version) based on his first two plate appearances. Such an assessment seemed a little gun-jumping. Sure hope it's true, but one game at a time for Carlos, one game at a time for us.

We're 2-1/2 back of a playoff spot with 43 to play. That's a matter of public record. And it indicates nothing about final positioning.

I got so excited in late July 1997 when the Mets nosed ahead of the Marlins for a moment. “If the season ended today,” I breathlessly told my apathetic sister, “the Mets would be in the playoffs.”

Suzan, whose relationship to baseball was tied to resentment over non-Mets games airing on her favorite talk station, replied earnestly, “I wish the season ended today.”

It's still the funniest thing she's ever said.